[VE] Long, Thin Wings

Toa Kraka · 03-02-2014, 02:41 PM

I was looking at a bunch of different airplanes, trying to match up the aspect ratios of the wings with the corresponding surface-area multipliers in Vehicles, and came up with the following:

If a wing (approximated as a rectangular prism) has thickness = x, chord = bx, and length = b²x, then solving the surface-area equation 2(bx² + b²x² + b³x²) = 6k(b³x³)^(2/3) for b given various values of k gives the following... (Aspect ratio is equal to 2b, which allows comparison with real-life aircraft.)

k = 1.5 (normal/flarecraft wing) → b = 3.18, aspect ratio = 6.36 (similar to 172 Skyhawk, modern casual plane)
k = 2 (STOL/high-agility wing) → b = 4.79, aspect ratio = 9.58 (similar to B-24 Liberator, WWII heavy bomber)
k = 3 (biplane wing pair, rotor) → b = 7.87, aspect ratio = 15.8 (similar to ASK 21, modern sailplane, or Camel, biplane, with wing area rearranged in monoplane configuration)
k = 4 (triplane wing trio) → b = 10.9, aspect ratio = 21.8 (similar to DG-1000, modern sailplane, or Dr.1, triplane, with wing area rearranged in monoplane configuration)
k = 5 (not in RAW) → b = 13.9, aspect ratio = 27.8 (similar to RQ-4B Global Hawk, modern reconnaissance drone)
k = 6 (not in RAW) → b = 16.9, aspect ratio = 33.8 (similar to Voyager and GlobalFlyer, modern endurance flyers)...

But, in Vehicles, k is never higher than 2 for any monoplane, and is never higher than 4 for any plane at all. So:

Might the maximum value of k in a monoplane be limited by TL and/or material quality? For example (using 3e's boundaries between technology levels):
- k = 1.5 requires late-TL5 wood/fabric
- k = 2 requires early-TL6 wood/fabric
- k = 3 requires late-TL6 metal
- k = 4 requires early-TL7 composites
- k = 5 requires late-TL7 composites
- k = 6 requires early-TL8 composites...
- Using a multiplane configuration increases effective TL by 1 for this purpose only, but also reduces Stability Rating by 1
Would having high values of k improve Maneuver Rating or stall speed--or decrease Maneuver Rating, depending on how long the wings were with respect to the total volume?
Could each level of increased k be devoted either to STOL improvements (increasing lift) or to high-agility improvements (increasing Maneuver Rating)?

Just wondering...

03-02-2014, 02:41 PM	#1
Toa Kraka Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: New York metropolitan area	[VE] Long, Thin Wings I was looking at a bunch of different airplanes, trying to match up the aspect ratios of the wings with the corresponding surface-area multipliers in *Vehicles, and came up with the following: If a wing (approximated as a rectangular prism) has thickness = x, chord = bx, and length = b²x, then solving the surface-area equation 2(bx² + b²x² + b³x²) = 6k(b³x³)^(2/3) for b given various values of k gives the following... (Aspect ratio is equal to 2b, which allows comparison with real-life aircraft.) k = 1.5 (normal/flarecraft wing) → b = 3.18, aspect ratio = 6.36 (similar to 172 Skyhawk, modern casual plane) k = 2 (STOL/high-agility wing) → b = 4.79, aspect ratio = 9.58 (similar to B-24 Liberator, WWII heavy bomber) k = 3 (biplane wing pair, rotor) → b = 7.87, aspect ratio = 15.8 (similar to ASK 21, modern sailplane, or Camel, biplane, with wing area rearranged in monoplane configuration) k = 4 (triplane wing trio) → b = 10.9, aspect ratio = 21.8 (similar to DG-1000, modern sailplane, or Dr.1, triplane, with wing area rearranged in monoplane configuration) k = 5 (not in RAW) → b = 13.9, aspect ratio = 27.8 (similar to RQ-4B Global Hawk, modern reconnaissance drone) k = 6 (not in RAW) → b = 16.9, aspect ratio = 33.8 (similar to Voyager and GlobalFlyer, modern endurance flyers)... But, in Vehicles, k is never higher than 2 for any monoplane, and is never higher than 4 for any plane at all. So: Might the maximum value of k in a monoplane be limited by TL and/or material quality? For example (using 3e's boundaries between technology levels): k = 1.5 requires late-TL5 wood/fabric k = 2 requires early-TL6 wood/fabric k = 3 requires late-TL6 metal k = 4 requires early-TL7 composites k = 5 requires late-TL7 composites k = 6 requires early-TL8 composites... Using a multiplane configuration increases effective TL by 1 for this purpose only, but also reduces Stability Rating by 1 Would having high values of k improve Maneuver Rating or stall speed--or decrease Maneuver Rating, depending on how long the wings were with respect to the total volume? Could each level of increased k be devoted either* to STOL improvements (increasing lift) or to high-agility improvements (increasing Maneuver Rating)? Just wondering...